Last week was my birthday. I’m going to say that 46 feels GREAT! I have had an amazing, albeit a bit of a rollercoaster at times, year. It’s definitely been a year of growth, perspective and discovery and I learn more every day. Here’s what I learned last week.

After the election I felt like I needed to do something to change the course of my social media feeds. It just wasn’t a fun place to hang out. So, I offered a free 30 Day Coloring Out Loud workshop to get people creating, connecting and sharing. If you follow me, you know that my workshops are full of color and creativity, but are more mindful self-discovery than art school. The workshop is going amazingly well and I’m spending a lot more time with my oil pastels and even some paints this month. This week, while coloring, I realized a pattern. I was “making something” with my art supplies and then when it felt done, I jumped in and changed it. I painted over it or I mixed the colors of my oil pastels to make something new. I was “letting go.” When it happened unconsciously several times I was in tune enough to take note and think about it.

Let Go

That was the message that came to me and I connected deeply with. Nothing is “final.” You can add, change, and refocus to recreate something completely different out of what you originally started with. You can let go of an idea and let it become something else. Very powerful as we approach the end of the year and I begin to evaluate where I am and where I am going.

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A Superhuman Breakfast referral brought me to my next adventure…
In eating…
For many of you, the combination of me + food + adventure wouldn’t be a big surprise. But, if you don’t know me, let me say this:

I LOVE FOOD

Not just “any” food. I like GOOD food. Talented chef-prepared, palate-pleasing, art on a plate food. I’ll try almost anything (ALMOST…don’t ask me to eat a pickle…It won’t happen…childhood pickle trauma lives on).

Life transitions make you do a lot of “thinking” about what’s next so I’ve given myself an assignment: create a lifestyle that is fun and adventures and makes you feel comfortable and mindful. Changing, and defining what you want things to change INTO can be scary.

It’s also completely freeing and empowering. I get to take control of my “new” life design. Listen to my inner guidance about what things fit and where.

I get to be in charge of saving mySELF.

I don’t know what comes next but I’m a BIG fan of CREATING things. So, I decided I should just start integrating my “assignment” into my life and throw in some moments of fear and uncertainty to ensure I grow and overcome along the way. Sometimes our greatest comfort evolves from something we feared into discomfort.

If you know me you know I often go full speed…non-stop…juggling and trying to “do it all”. That started shifting a few years ago when I worked with life coach Susan Hyatt. She pointed this little detail out to me and asked (begged) me to stop.

“Find time to rest and rejuvenate. One day a week.”

I called it being GROUNDED.

I felt like a 13-year old being forced to stay home from the party. Life’s ongoing party in this case. But, slowly (very slowly) it began to take hold. I started enjoying quiet nights or afternoons in. I became grateful for the silence of my apartment and the joyous feeling of being surrounded by my things and more recently cooking fresh and healthy meals for myself.

While I was giving in to the idea of rest, the reality of my career kept my mind always “on.” A career in Crisis Management does that. You never know when things will happen. You can’t watch the news without thinking of work. “Things” happen 24/7 and you never know when the next one might hit. So while I was beginning to understand rest…my mind never fully gave in.